come pick me up
by trebleclef2011
Summary: When they're falling apart, they put themselves back together. all prompts from Bosami week 2012 NOT YET M


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It's nighttime. Asami sits outside in the snow, bundled in her winter coat and a turtleduck-down blanket she'd brought with her from home. Even though it's far below freezing, she can't stop the tears from falling down her face. She sits over the vast expanse of water, looking at the twinkling lights reflected in it. She wipes her eyes every few minutes, looking for a reason to stop. She can't find one.

She suddenly hears footsteps behind her and wipes her eyes quickly, rubbing them red as she tries to get rid of the snot that had come out of her nose as she was sobbing. She turns quickly to identify her visitor and sees that it's her ex-boyfriend's brother. Bolin.

"Oh, hey," Asami says, trying to sound happy and normal. She is - or at least, she used to be - the heiress to a machinery empire. She should have it together, shouldn't she?

"What are you looking at?" Bolin says cheerfully, his cheeks pink with the cold and the effort of walking outside. His new coat kept him warm enough, but he wasn't used to the temperature out here. Asami felt the same, but she couldn't find a free minute or place secluded enough to just have a good cry. She'd been holding it in for about a week.

"Just the ocean," Asami says back, looking over at the earthbender and smiling. It's not her strongest smile, but her years in the spotlight, as a result of her inventor father's celebrity, have taughter her to put on a brave face.

"Hey," Bolin says, looking at her and seeing the redness and slight swelling around her eyes and noticing the tear tracks, "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," Asami says, bringing the heel of her hand up to rub her eye again. Her makeup washed off a while ago.

"You can tell me what the problem is," Bolin offers. "Or not. I'm a good listener, and I can give you a hug, if you want."

"That's sweet," Asami says. She doesn't think she'll tell him, but then it bubbles up and she starts sobbing again. It's slow at first. She sinks into herself and pulls the blanket more tightly around her shoulders as the wind picks up a bit, the breeze ruffling her hair. He waits patiently for her to speak, or to cry, or to leave. He's good at waiting.

"It's just...I've been thinking about my father a lot recently. About what he did...and then at that airfield..." Asami buries her head in her arms, suddenly overcome and begins sobbing more and more. Her black hair falls in waves, hiding her face from his view. Her voice shakes violently as she sobs, and gets a few more words out.

"I really think…he wanted to kill me." Bolin's heart breaks when he hears this. Asami is turned completely inward, her back curved against the world, the blanket wrapped tightly as if to hold her together.

She doesn't notice Bolin's intense, mournful gaze on her, his face shifting as he realizes what she's been doing for the past few days. Disappearing without a word to anyone, probably to come out on this ledge and look out over the ocean, crying salty tears into the cold air as she mourns her broken relationship with her father. He realizes that it's worse for her, losing her father, because she knew him. She'd learned his ways throughout her life, and realized that he'd lied to her. He wasn't killed; he chose this. And she was left without anyone, abandoned.

Suddenly she feels warm arms around her back, and she leans into them as she cries harder and harder.

"I don't know how that must feel," Bolin says, gripping her tighter in his strong, warm embrace, "but I know," and he pulls away to look at her, so that she will understand him, "you are one of the best people I know, Asami."

Asami can't say anything, with her face a mess of tears. Her lip quivers and Bolin wraps his arms around her tighter. He pulls her up more so that she can rest her head on his shoulder as she cries. He's only sixteen, but he's good at comfort. He's good at hugs. He can do this, at least. Asami eventually gives out, the last of her reserves dissolving at the pressure of his arms around her. It's not like her mother's embrace, but she hasn't really had much physical reassurance in a long, long time. Mako was the last person who came this close to making her feel this safe.

"It's going to be fine," Bolin says finally. "I know you. You are so strong. You can overcome anything, especially this. You overcame this stupid drama with my idiot brother, so I know you'll be just fine."

Asami leans into him, her tears slowing and her breathing becoming more and more regular as he rubs her back. He doesn't whisper anything, but his steady breathing soothes her, something like her mother used to when she was very young, before she'd lost her. It is familiar, and new. It is different.

She sits up, looking the earthbender in the face. She smiles when his bright grin appears. He's a good kid. He'll be a good man, and soon.

"Thanks, Bolin," she says, and gets up to walk back to the compound, where everyone else has likely fallen asleep. She fluffs her hair back over her shoulders, wrapping her blanket around herself, holding the edges together. "Walk me back?" She smiles tentatively, still sore from all of the crying, but hoping that someday she'd believe him.

"Yes, ma'am," he says, and offers her his arm.

Asami chuckles despite herself, the laugh hasty, but joyous. She reaches out to him.

"See?" Bolin says once she put her arm through his. "That wasn't so hard."

Asami looks over at the boy's face as they walk through the snow together.

"No, it wasn't."

This is the beginning.

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End file.
